Systems and methods for providing caller identification over a public switched telephone network

ABSTRACT

A system and method of providing caller identification (ID) over a public switched telephone network (PSTN). For outbound calls, the system and method enable a caller to provide a caller ID that differs from the native caller ID of their mobile phone. The system and method enable multiple phones tied to a single account to display the same caller ID for outbound calls. For forwarded inbound calls, such as calls being forwarded from an office, the system and method inform the recipient of the identification of the call as well as that the call is being forwarded. The system and method enable the recipient to have calls forwarded from more than one number and identify the identity of the caller as well as the specific number the call is being forwarded from.

CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. Nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 16/899,273, filed on Jun. 11, 2020 and entitled“SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING CALLER IDENTIFICATION OVER A PUBLICSWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 16/653,292, filed on Oct. 15,2019, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING CALLERIDENTIFICATION OVER A PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK,” which is acontinuation in part of U.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser. No.16/268,759, filed on Feb. 6, 2019 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORPROVIDING CALLER IDENTIFICATION OVER A PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONENETWORK” which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/769,423, filed Nov. 19, 2018,entitled “System and Method for Providing Caller ID over PSTN”, U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/771,942, filed Nov. 27, 2018,entitled “System and Method for Providing Caller ID over PSTN”, and U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/776,761, filed on Dec. 7, 2018,entitled “System and Method for Providing Caller ID over PSTN.” Thedisclosures of each of U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No.16/899,273, U.S. Nonprovisional patent application Ser. No. 16/653,292,U.S. Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/268,759, U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/771,942, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/776,761 are incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field oftelecommunications. In particular, the present invention is directed tosystems and methods for providing caller identification over a publicswitched telephone network.

BACKGROUND

A person, such as but not limited to professionals like salesmen,doctors, and lawyers, may have the need to place a call to a client, acustomer, a potential client, or a potential customer from a personalmobile device. For example, caller may be out of the office when theneed arises to make the call. Likewise, the need to make a call may beafter hours or on a weekend. The caller may not want to place the callwith a mobile device because the recipient of the call will have accessto the professional's personal mobile number due to calleridentification (ID). This may lead to lost opportunities and/or customerdissatisfaction. Existing systems do not solve this problem in asatisfactory manner. Where calls are forwarded from a work or officephone to a personal cell phone, for instance, the cell phone cantypically show either the caller ID of the phone number it is beingforwarded from, or the caller ID of the phone placing the call but doesnot typically have access to both; this can exacerbate confusion, ratherthan solving it. Some phone systems that utilize voice over internetprotocol (VOIP) provide a forwarded telephone call to include morecomplete information. However, VOIP calls provide communication servicesover the Internet instead of via the PSTN. Thus, the quality of suchcalls may be diminished and choppy in comparison to phone calls made viaPSTN.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an aspect, a system for call placement over a publicly switchedtelephone network includes a first device having a first telephonenumber and first caller identification, wherein the first device isdesigned and configured to place a first call to a server, wherein thefirst call is placed to a second telephone number associated with thefirst device and the call is transmitted over a publicly switchedtelephone network, transmit data to the server via a different channelthan the first call, wherein the data directs the server to associatepredetermined caller identification with a second audio call to a seconddevice, wherein the predetermined caller identification differs from thefirst caller identification, and initiate the second call.

In another aspect, a method of call placement over a publicly switchedtelephone network includes placing, by a first device having a firsttelephone number and first caller identification a first call to aserver, wherein the first call is placed to a second telephone numberassociated with the first device and the call is transmitted over apublicly switched telephone network, transmitting, by the first device,data to the server via a different channel than the first call, whereinthe data directs the server to associate predetermined calleridentification with a second audio call to a second device, wherein thepredetermined caller identification differs from the first calleridentification, and initiating the second call.

These and other aspects and features of non-limiting embodiments of thepresent invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponreview of the following description of specific non-limiting embodimentsof the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspectsof one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an outbound phone call;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an outbound phone call;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic of one embodiment of a system of the presentdisclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number;

FIG. 7 shows a schematic of a prior system forwarding a phone call;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic of a prior system forwarding a phone call;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method disclosed herein;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method disclosed herein;

FIG. 11A shows a schematic of a device receiving a notification ofincoming forwarded call to be received shortly;

FIG. 11B shows a schematic of a device receiving a forwarded call;

FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a system of thepresent disclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number to multiple telephones;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method of the presentdisclosure for an inbound phone call forwarded from a differenttelephone number to multiple telephones;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method of the presentdisclosure for outbound calling over a public switched telephonenetwork;

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method of callplacement over a publicly switched telephone network;

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method of callplacement over a publicly switched telephone network; and

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a computing system that can be used toimplement any one or more of the methodologies disclosed herein and anyone or more portions thereof.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and may be illustrated byphantom lines, diagrammatic representations, and fragmentary views. Incertain instances, details that are not necessary for an understandingof the embodiments or that render other details difficult to perceivemay have been omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments described herein relate to a system and method ofproviding caller identification (ID) over a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN). As used in this disclosure, a PSTN is a networkincluding one or more telephone networks, such as without limitationcircuit-switched telephone networks; PSTN may include allcircuit-switched telephone networks, in a manner analogous to inclusionof computer networks in the Internet. Circuit-switched telephonenetworks, as used herein, may include wired telephonic networksoperating over electronic telephone wires, cellular networks placing orcarrying calls between cellular phones, digital cellular networks PSTNmay operate according to standards promulgated by the InternationalTelegraph Union (ITU), such as without limitation the ITUTelecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). For outbound calls,the system and method enable a caller to provide a caller ID thatdiffers from the native caller ID of their mobile phone. The system andmethod enable multiple phones tied to a single account to display thesame caller ID for outbound calls. For forwarded inbound calls, such ascalls being forwarded from an office, the system and method inform therecipient of the ID of the call, and/or that the call is beingforwarded. The system and method enable the recipient to have callsforwarded from more than one number and identify the identity of thecaller as well as the specific number that the call is being forwardedfrom.

A person may have calls forwarded from a work or office phone to apersonal cell phone. When a call is forwarded, typically the cell phonecan show either the caller ID of the phone number it is being forwardedfrom, such as shown in FIG. 8, or the caller ID of the phone placing thecall, such as shown in FIG. 7. If the caller ID only indicates thecaller ID of the forwarded number as shown in FIG. 8, the recipient ofthe call knows the call is coming from the forwarded telephone number,which may be an office, but the recipient does not know theidentification of the caller. Thus, the recipient may answer anundesired call. The recipient may answer the call differently if therecipient is aware of the identification of the caller. If the caller IDonly indicates the caller ID of the caller as shown in FIG. 7, therecipient of the call may not recognize that the call is beingforwarded, which may cause the recipient to answer the call in adifferent manner than if it was recognized as a call being forwardedfrom a third number, such as an office.

Some phone systems that utilize voice over internet protocol (VOIP)provide a forwarded telephone call to include both the caller ID of thecaller as well as the identification of a forwarded number. However,VOIP calls provide communication services over the Internet instead ofvia the PSTN. Thus, the quality of such calls may be diminished andchoppy in comparison to phone calls made via PSTN. Embodiments disclosedherein resolve these and other problems arising within the technology oftelecommunications. Specific means and methods for resolution of theabove-described problems are disclosed and claimed below.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system 1000 for providingcaller ID over the PSTN. The system includes a first device 100 having adisplay, or screen, 101. First device 100 has a first telephone numberand a first caller ID associated with the first telephone number. Firstdevice may be any computing device as described below in reference toFIG. 15, including without limitation a mobile telephonic device such asa cellular phone, digital phone, tablet enabled to place phone calls, orthe like; such mobile telephonic devices are referred to in thisdisclosure as “cell phones.” First device 100 may include, withoutlimitation, a personal cell phone of a user of the system 1000. As afurther non-limiting example, first device 100 may include a work cellphone of the user of the system 1000. System 1000 may be accessed via anapplication (“app”) downloaded on the first device 100; app may be anysuitable program as described below in reference to FIG. 15; app may,for instance, include a web application running on a browser operated byfirst device 100, a native app, such as a “mobile app” executed on firstdevice 100 without a web browser, or any other suitable form of programor application that may occur to a person skilled in the art, uponreviewing the entirety of this disclosure. An app user, such as withoutlimitation a user of first device 100, may utilize the app on the firstdevice 100 to call another telephone without disclosing the first callerID, which may be associated with the native telephone number of thefirst device 100. For example, the app user may want to call a client,but may not want the client to have access to the telephone number ofthe app user's cell phone, i.e. the first device 100; as a furthernon-limiting example, app user may wish client to call app user's officetelephone, optionally in conjunction with a call-forwarding system ormethod, including without limitation call-forwarding systems for inboundcalls as set forth in further detail below in reference to FIGS. 3-6 and10, and/or utilizing one or more elements and/or process steps thereof.

Still referring to FIG. 1, after downloading app to the first device100, app user may establish a user account within the app; for example,app user may establish a username and password associated with theaccount. App user may provide billing information while setting up theaccount. Additionally, app user may provide a predetermined caller ID tobe associated with the first device when making a telephone call usingthe app. For example, the predetermined caller ID may include an officetelephone number associated with the app user. App user may providemultiple predetermined caller IDs to potentially be associated with thefirst device when making a telephone call using the app; for example,and without limitation, the app user may have multiple office locationseach having a different telephone number, which correspond to themultiple predetermined caller IDs. Where there is a plurality ofpredetermined caller IDs, app may prompt user to select one of themultiple predetermined caller IDs, for instance and without limitationvia a user interface component such as a radio button, drop-down list,or the like. Alternatively or additionally, app may extract or retrieveone or more candidate numbers from which to select a telephone number toinclude in predetermined caller ID; as a non-limiting example, app mayaccess contacts of user on first device 100 and select one or moretelephone numbers associated with user from contacts. For instance, andwithout limitation, user may include a number labeled “office,” “work,”or the like in contacts stored on first device 100, indicating atelephone number of the user's work phone; app may select this number aspart of predetermined caller ID, and may display selected number touser. App may give user the ability to override default selection byentering a user command via a button or text field deleting selectionand/or overwriting default selection with user-entered information. As afurther non-limiting example, app may retrieve or extract a plurality ofcandidate telephone numbers from contacts, for instance by scanningcontacts for entries corresponding to “work,” “office,” “me,” or thelike; candidates may be presented to user by app in a list or otherdisplay, which may permit user to refuse or modify each candidate asdescribed above. App may require the app user to confirm rights in theselected predetermined caller ID or multiple predetermined caller IDs;this may be performed, without limitation, by presenting a logon screenfor the user to provide logon credentials such as, without limitation, ausername and password.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, system 1000 includes a server 200.Server 200 may include any computing device as described below inreference to FIG. 15. Server 200 may include, without limitation, anyserver as described below in reference to FIG. 15. Server mayalternatively or additionally include a desktop computer, a handhelddevice or mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, and/or a specialpurpose device; any such device may include or be included in server 200where configured as set forth in further detail below. Server 200 mayinclude two or more devices working in concert or in parallel; server200 may include, for instance, a first server or cluster of servers in afirst location and a second server or cluster of servers in a secondlocation. Server 200 may include computing devices that are dedicated toparticular tasks; for instance, a single computing device or cluster ofcomputing devices may be dedicated to the operation of queues describedbelow, while a separate computing device or cluster of computing devicesmay be dedicated to storage and/or production of dynamic data asdescribed in further detail below. Server 200 may include one or morecomputing devices dedicated to data storage, security, distribution oftraffic for load balancing, and the like. Server 200 may distribute oneor more computing tasks as described below across a plurality ofcomputing devices of server 200, which may operate in parallel, inseries, redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution oftasks or memory between computing devices. Server 200 may be implementedusing a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at theworker; in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of system 100and/or server 200. In an embodiment, server 200 may communicate locallyor over a network to one or more remote devices to perform one or moreembodiments of processes and/or process steps as disclosed in furtherdetail below; communication may include, without limitation,communication with any other device as described herein.

Still referring to FIG. 1, server 200 may be designed and/or configuredto perform any method, method step, or sequence of method steps in anyembodiment described in this disclosure, in any order and with anydegree of repetition. For instance, server 200 may be configured toperform a single step or sequence repeatedly until a desired orcommanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or a sequence ofsteps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively using outputs ofprevious repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions, aggregatinginputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregate result,reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as globalvariables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set ofiteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Server 200 may performany step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure inparallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneouslyperforming a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads,processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threadsand/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable fordivision of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, uponreviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various waysin which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may besubdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion,and/or parallel processing. Server 200 may be designed and configured toperform any method and/or method steps as described herein, includingwithout limitation methods and/or method steps described below inreference to FIGS. 9-16, in any order or combination, or with any degreeof iteration or repetition.

Still referring to FIG. 1, server 200 is designed and configured toassign a second telephone number to the first device 100; this may beperformed, in an embodiment, after user sets up an account as describedabove. Second telephone number assigned to the first device 100 may be aunique number; as used herein, “unique” signifies that second telephonenumber is unique at least within PSTN with which devices in system 1000are communicating or otherwise interacting as set forth in furtherdetail herein. Uniqueness may include a higher degree of uniqueness,such as uniqueness within a plurality of PSTNs, within all PSTNs thatsystem 1000 interacts with, within all PSTNs in existence, or the like.Uniqueness may include a number generated according to protocols forgeneration of globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) and/or universallyunique identifiers (UUIDs). For example, and without limitation, secondtelephone number assigned to first device 100 may be a unique ten (10)digit telephone number now associated with the first device 100. Toplace a call using app, app user may open the app and selects a clientor other person to call. For example, a client may be selected from acontact list contained within the app. The contact list may include atelephone number of client; telephone number of client may be a firstdestination device telephone number of a first destination device 300.Selection may be performed by any suitable process or facility forselecting and/or calling a contact number, such as without limitation avoice command or manually entered to call client and/or other person byname, a voice command or manually entered command to call client and/orother person by a description of professional relationship or the like,or any other suitable process; in an embodiment app may be initializedor started up by such a command, rather than being manually or otherwiseopened by user. Alternatively, the app user may manually or otherwiseenter the first destination device telephone number of a firstdestination device 300 in the app. As a further non-limiting example,app may present data to user via audio output such as without limitationspeech-to-text output or the like; thus, as a non-limiting illustration,user may activate app using a voice command or by tapping or selecting avisually depicted event handler on a screen of first device 100, and appmay respond with a voice prompt asking the user whether the user wishesto place a call, and/or may place the call to second number withoutfurther prompting. Further continuing the example, app may issue asubsequent voice prompt requesting a destination number and user mayprovide the first destination device telephone number via verbal commandor any other suitable data entry process. Prompt to enter firstdestination device telephone number may originate at app or at server200; for instance, server 200 may send a request for first destinationdevice telephone number via any of PSTN 400, network 600, and/or textingservice 500 upon receiving either PSTN call or data (as set forth infurther detail below) from first device 100, and app may subsequentlyoutput the request or a prompt based on the request to user. App and/orserver may provide other prompts to user, such as without limitation arequest for user to specify a device user wishes to appear as caller IDon first destination device as provided in further detail below; usermay enter desired caller ID information and/or select desired caller IDinformation from a list including two or more telephone numbers, such aswithout limitation the user's office phone, mobile phone, home phone,and/or other numbers. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing theentirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in whichinitialization and/or function calls to app, initialization of a phonecall via app, and/or entry of first destination device telephone numbermay be performed consistently with this disclosure.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, upon selecting, entering, and/orotherwise specifying first destination device 300 telephone number offirst destination device 300, whether manually or via a contacts list,first device 100 dials the second telephone number associated with thefirst device 100 creating an audio call 110 between the first device 100and the server 200 via the PSTN 400. Audio call 110 may be placedaccording to any protocol or procedure suitable for placement of anaudio call over a PSTN. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing theentirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various ways in whichaudio call 110 may be placed as consistent with this disclosure. Audiocall 110 may be placed using components, circuits, and/or modules offirst device 100 usable for placement of audio calls; audio call 110 maybe placed using app, which may invoke a telephone application on firstdevice 100 to place audio call 110.

Still referring to FIG. 1, first device 100 communicates data 120 toserver 200 via a different channel than the audio call 110;communication of data 120 to server may be performed substantiallysimultaneously with audio call 110, where “substantially simultaneously”denotes provision of data 120 and audio call 110 close enough togetherthat a user experience of time taken for placement of the call to firstdestination device, is equivalent to user experience of time taken forplacement of a typical telephone call; data 120 may be conveyed before,after, or concurrently with audio call 110. Data 120 may be conveyed viaany suitable channel of wired or wireless electronic communication thatis not the channel used for audio call 110. For example, the data 120may be communicated via simple message system (SMS) 500 or anothertext-messaging protocol to the server 200 as shown in FIG. 1. As anotherexample, the data 120 may be communicated over the Internet 600 viavarious Internet protocols such as packet-based communication protocolsto the server 200 as shown, as a non-limiting example, in FIG. 2. Forexample, the data may be communicated via hypertext transfer protocol(HTTP), secure HTTP (HTTPS), transmission control protocol-Internetprotocol (TCP-IP), or the like as would be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Datamay be received via at least one of a text messaging protocol such asSMS and a packet-based network such as the Internet, meaning that datamay be received via the text messaging protocol, the packet-basednetwork, or a combination of the two. Data 120 may be received slightlybefore, simultaneously, or slightly after receiving the first audio callfrom the first device 100. Data 120 sent to the server 200 may includethe first destination device telephone number of the first destinationdevice 300; in other words, the data 120 may include the telephonenumber that the app user desires to call and corresponding to a deviceand/or receiving user with whom user wishes to place the call. Data 120may also include predetermined caller ID that the app user desires topresent to the first destination device 300 rather than the first callerID of the first device 100. Data 120 may also include a username andpassword of the app user from the first device 100. Data 120 may includeany suitable additional data usable for performance of any portion ofany method as described in this disclosure, including additionalinformation concerning app user, first device 100, second telephonenumber and/or other information; any of these exemplary elements mayalternatively be excluded from data 120 and/or concealed from firstdestination device and/or a user thereof. Data 120 may includeinformation needed to validate identity of device 100; server 200 mayuse data 120 to authenticate first device 100 and/or user of firstdevice 100.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1, server 200 may recognize audio call 110from first device 100 based on second telephone number dialed by thefirst device 100 as described above. The server 200 may attempt tovalidate the first audio call 110 based on receipt of data 120 also fromthe first device 100, which may include the app user's username andpassword. A second audio call 210 is communicated from the server 200 tothe first destination device 300 via the PSTN 400; this may occur aftervalidation by the server 200, and may, for instance, not proceed ifserver 200 fails to validate first audio call 110, for instance owing toa mismatch with data 120. Second audio call may be placed using firstdestination device telephone number of first destination device 300.Second audio call 210 connects the first destination device 300 with thefirst device 100. The server 200 causes predetermined caller ID 225, forinstance as received in data 120, to be displayed on the screen, ordisplay, 301 of the first destination device 300 during the second audiocall 210 rather than the first caller ID of the first device 100. Whereuser selected one of a plurality of predetermined caller IDs asdescribed above, server 200 may cause first destination device todisplay selected predetermined caller ID.

Still referring to FIG. 1, an account on app may be associated with anynumber of mobile devices, also referred to as additional subscriberdevices; for example, a second device, also referred to as an additionalsubscriber device, 100N may be associated with the account. Additionalsubscriber device 100N may include any device suitable for use as firstdevice as described above. Additional subscriber device 100N has ascreen 101N, a third telephone number, and a second caller ID associatedwith the third telephone number. Third telephone number of additionalsubscriber device 100N may differ from first telephone number of thefirst device 100. Third telephone number may be a native telephonenumber of additional subscriber device 100N. As with first device 100,additional subscriber device 100N may include without limitation apersonal cell phone or a work cell phone of a user of the system 1000.After setting additional subscriber device 100N on the account, theserver 200 of the system 1000 may assigns a fourth telephone number toadditional subscriber device 100N; this may be performed according toany process and using any means suitable for assigning second telephonenumber to first device 100 as described above. Fourth telephone numberassigned to additional subscriber device 100N may be a unique number,where “unique” may have any meaning associated with “unique” asreferring to second telephone number as described above. For example,fourth telephone number assigned to additional subscriber device 100Nmay be a unique ten (10) digit telephone number now associated with theadditional subscriber device 100N; fourth telephone number may differfrom second telephone number assigned to first device 100.

To place a call using the app, the app user of additional subscriberdevice, or second device, 100N may open the app and select a client,person, or device to call; client and/or person may operate a seconddestination device to be called (not shown). Upon selecting a seconddestination device telephone number of second destination device, thesecond destination device telephone number being a telephone numberassociated with the second destination device in the same way that firstdestination device telephone number is associated with first destinationdevice as described above, additional subscriber device 100N may dialfourth telephone number associated with the additional subscriber device100N creating an audio call 110 between the additional subscriber device100N and the server 200 via the PSTN 400; this may be performed asdescribed above for placement of audio call 110 from first device 100 toPSTN 400. Substantially simultaneously, the additional subscriber device100N may communicate data 120 to the server 200 via a different channelthan the audio call 110; this may be performed as described above forcommunication of data 120 from first device 100 to server 200, where“substantially simultaneously” has the same meaning as that describedabove for conveyance of data 120 from the first device 100 to theserver. For example, data 120 may be communicated via SMS 500,packet-based communication, or the like to the server 200 as shown inFIG. 1. As discussed herein, an audio call may be placed to seconddestination device by server 200 based on data 120 connecting additionalsubscriber device 100N to second destination device. First device 100and additional subscriber devices 100N are shown in FIG. 1 forillustrative purposes and the number of the devices 100, 100N may bevaried as would be appreciated by one or ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. An account on system 1000 mayinclude one, two, or more subscriber devices as would be appreciated byone or ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.The number, size, shape, and/or configuration of first device 100,server 200, and/or second device 300 are shown in FIG. 1 forillustrative purposes only and may be varied depending on theapplication as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. For example, system 1000 mayinclude one or more servers 200.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a system 2000 for providingcaller ID over the PSTN. The system includes a first device 100 having afirst telephone number and a first caller ID associated with the firsttelephone number; first device 100 may include any device suitable foruse as first device 100 as described above in reference to FIG. 1. Asdiscussed above, first device 100 may call a second telephone numberassociated with first device 100 to create a first audio call 110 withserver 200. As with system 1000 of FIG. 1, first device 100 communicatesdata 120 to server 200 via a different channel than audio call 110. Data120 may be communicated over the Internet 600 via various Internetprotocols to server 200 as shown in FIG. 2, and as described above inconnection with FIG. 1; alternatively or additionally, data 120 may becommunicated to server 200 via text-messaging services, for example asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 1. Server 200 may connect an audiocall 210 to a first destination device 300 via PSTN 400 based on thefirst audio 110 and the data 120 received via the Internet 600connecting first device 100 to the first destination device 300. Server200 causes a selected predetermined caller ID 225, if the app user hasmore than one predetermined caller ID, to be displayed on a screen, ordisplay 301 of first destination device 300 during second audio call 210rather than first caller ID of the first device 100; this may beimplemented, without limitation, as described above in reference to FIG.1.

As discussed herein, and still referring to FIG. 2, an account on theapp may be associated with any number of mobile devices; for example, anadditional subscriber device 100N may be associated with the account, asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 1. Additional subscriber device100N may also create an audio call 110 via PSTN 400 and provide data 120via the Internet 600; this may be implemented, without limitation, asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 1. Likewise, additional subscriberdevice 100N may provide data 120 on a channel different from firstdevice 100. For example, first device 100 may provide data 120 to server200 via the Internet 600 whereas additional subscriber device 100N ofsystem 2000 may provide data 120 via SMS 500, or the like, as would beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure. First devices 100 and one or more additional subscriberdevices 100N are shown in FIG. 2 for illustrative purposes. An accounton system 2000 may include one, two, or more devices as would beappreciated by one or ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure. The number, size, shape, and/or configuration of firstdevice 100, server 200, and/or second device 300 are shown in FIG. 2 forillustrative purposes only and may be varied depending on theapplication as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. For example, system 2000 mayinclude one or more servers 200.

FIG. 3 shows a system 3000 for forwarding a telephone number. A call 310may be placed by a second device 300 to a device, or location, 700,which may be located at and/or associated with in the PSTN an office orhome number. Call 310 may be placed, without limitation, to a thirdtelephone number associated with device or location 700. Second device300 may include, without limitation, any device suitable for use asfirst device 100 and/or first destination device as described above;second device 300 may include or be a first destination device 300 insystems 1000, 2000, as suggested and illustrated in FIG. 3, or may be adifferent device. It should be noted that in different iterations ofmethods performed by systems as described in this disclosure, the samedevice may operate as first device 100 in a one iteration, a firstdestination device 300 and/or second destination device in anotheriteration, and/or a second device 300 in still another iteration. Inother words, second device 300 may have received an office or homenumber, such as a telephone number from one or more calls as placed byor in system 1000 and/or system 2000, for instance as second caller IDas described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2; second device 300 mayalternatively or additionally acquire a telephone number fromalternative channels, contacts of second device 300 or the like. Call310 may be placed via the PSTN 400. Upon receiving call 310, call isforwarded 710 via a first forwarding number to a server 200; server 200may be or include any device or devices suitable for use as a server 200as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, and server 200 may beserver 200 of a system as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2or a distinct server. Call forwarding may be performed, withoutlimitation, by any call-forwarding system implemented within a PSTN,including without limitation configuration of one or more switches,servers, or cloud servers (not shown) in PSTN to forward a call to firstforwarding number; alternatively or additionally, call 710 may beforwarded by device 700. Call 710 to first forwarding number may bedirected via PSTN to Server 200. Server 200 may be configured toassociate first forwarding number with a first device 100, includingwithout limitation a first device 100 as described above in reference toFIGS. 1 and 2, as described above; for instance, and without limitation,first forwarding number may be assigned to a port at server 200, a useraccount set up at server, or the like. As a result, server 200 mayautomatically determine that a call to first forwarding number, arrivingat server, is to be forwarded to a first device 100 and/or any devicespecified by user account or other data structure or record associatedwith first forwarding number. Server 200 may further associate firstforwarding number with device 700, permitting information concerningdevice 700 to be retrieved based on first forwarding number as well.First forwarding number may be unique, where “unique” signifiesuniqueness as defined above in reference to FIGS. 1-2 and with regard tosecond telephone number. Server 200 may also associate first forwardingnumber to an application, which may include without limitation an app asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and/or include a distinctor related application, running on a first device 100, which may be apersonal mobile phone of a subscriber to an application running onserver 200.

Still referring to FIG. 3, server 200 may generate server call data.Server call data may include any information that server 200 may forwardor transmit to first device 100 regarding calls 310, 710, or furthercalls placed or connected by server 200 for forwarding calls 310, 710,including without limitation information describing device 700, thirdtelephone number as dialed by second device 300, call 310, call 710,first device 100, and/or account information stored on server regardingfirst device 100. Server 200 may retrieve part of server call data fromdata stored at server 200 that is associated with first forwardingnumber, first device 100, and/or user account using link of firstforwarding number to such data. Server 200 may receive part of servercall data from PSTN as part of call 710.

Server 200 may assign a logo to first forwarding number and/or anotherdatum associated with first forwarding number as described above.Alternatively or additionally, logo may be stored on first device 100,for instance in memory associated with app, as entered using app. Logomay be been selected by the app user to indicate a call being forwardedto the first device 100 from the telephone number assigned to use thefirst forwarding number; selection may, for instance, have occurredprior to placement of call 710. Logo may be specific to a particularnumber or set of numbers; this may, for instance, inform user who iscalling, or what device is calling, permitting user to prepare torespond accordingly. Logo may include any visual indicator usable toindicate a call being forwarded to first device 100, including withoutlimitation an image, emoticon, one or more elements of textual data,and/or any combination thereof. Server 200 may use various indicatorssuch as a logo to indicate that a call is being forwarded to the firstdevice 100 as would be appreciated by one or ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. For example, the server 200 mayuse a picture, text, a symbol, a design, or the like to indicate that acall is being forwarded to the first device 100.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, based on first forwarding number, anaudio call 130 via PSTN 400 connects second device 300 to first device100; this may be performed according to any suitable process forconnecting two devices using a PSTN call, for instance as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 1-2. Server 200 may cause a screen ordisplay 101 on the first device 100 to display information 125, whichmay include any data suitable for use as server call data as describedabove; information 125, or data usable by first device 100 to retrieveinformation 125, may be supplied over PSTN to first device 100.Information 125 may be displayed by first device 100 using a displaytypically used by first device to display call information received viaPSTN, such as caller identification information received via PSTN.Server 200 may cause screen or display 101 to display an additionalfield 135. Additional field 135 may include any data suitable for use asserver call data; in an embodiment, data displayed in additional field135, and/or data usable by first device to retrieve data to be displayedin additional field 135, may be transmitted via a different channel thanaudio call 130, for instance as further illustrated below in referenceto FIG. 4. As a non-limiting example, additional field 135 at firstdevice 100 may include a pop up, such as a “toaster popup” or display onfirst device 100.

Still referring to FIG. 3, server 200 may cause first device 100 todisplay logo, for instance in additional field 135. Logo may include alogo selected by the app user to indicate that the call is beingforwarded from a specific phone number, as described above. Thus, logomay inform a recipient using first device 100 that incoming call isbeing forwarded rather than originally being placed to the first device100; logo may further indicate which device originated the call and/orinformation regarding device 700 such as a company associated with thedevice 700 or the like. Such information may be important to help therecipient decide how to answer the incoming call and/or whether toanswer the incoming call. Likewise, information 125 may inform therecipient concerning the identity of the caller. Such information mayalso be important to help the recipient decide how to answer theincoming call and/or whether to answer the incoming call. In anembodiment, logo and/or information is transmitted to first device 100and/or recipient device by server; transmission may be performed by anymeans for data transmission from first device 100 to server, includingwithout limitation transmission over a network such as the Internet,transmission via text messaging services, or any other suitableelectronic communication. Alternatively or additionally, server 200 maytransmit to first device 100 and/or recipient device a caller ID code;caller ID code, as used herein, may be a datum usable to retrieveinformation 125 and/or data to be displayed in additional field 135 atfirst device 100 and/or recipient device. For example, and withoutlimitation, caller ID code may be a datum such as retrieval key,identifier, or the like which identifies a record stored at first device100 and/or recipient device, or at a remote device such as server 200 incommunication with first device 100 and/or recipient device, permittingretrieval; for instance, information 125 and/or data to be displayed inadditional field 135 may be stored in a key-value data store, hashtable, or the like, permitting lookup of information 125 using caller IDcode. Caller ID code may alternatively or additionally be a data elementcontaining information 125 and/or data to be displayed in additionalfield 135, or may be included in, stored with, and/or transmitted withinformation 125 and/or data to be displayed in additional field 135.Caller ID code may be information 125. Transmission of information 125and/or data to be displayed in additional field 135 and/or caller IDcode may be effected by a different channel than PSTN call to firstdevice 100 and/or recipient device 300; caller ID code, information 125and/or data to be displayed in additional field 135 may be included inPSTN call to first device and/or recipient device. Caller ID code mayinclude a first portion sent via PSTN and a second portion sent via adifferent channel such as a text messaging service and/or packet-basednetwork as described above.

Still referring to FIG. 3, information 125 and/or data to be displayedin additional field 135 may be provided from a contact list stored on adatabase 250 on or connected to the server 200; database may include,without limitation, a contacts database, wherein a predetermined contactassociated with second device may be stored in the contacts database;predetermined contact may include an identifier that indicates that theaudio call is being forwarded through server 200. Contact list may becreated by importing a contact list native to first device 100; theimported contact list may be copied into the application creating aduplicate contact list. Duplicate contact list may add an indicator 126(best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) that indicates to the recipient of thecall that the call is being forwarded through an app, which may includewithout limitation an app as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and2, on the first device 100. For example, indicator 126 may include anabbreviation of a name of application and/or app, and/or an abbreviationof a company or other entity name of an entity offering the service.Appended indicator 126 may also be used to differentiate between nativecontacts list and app contact list, which both may be stored on thefirst device 100 and/or on server 200. Information 125 and/or data to bedisplayed in additional field 135 may alternatively or additionallyinclude any form of caller ID as described above in reference to FIGS. 1and 2. It should be noted that call 310, 710 may be placed using anycombination of steps for placement of call 110 as described above inreference to FIGS. 1 and 2; for instance, second device 300 may callusing app as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 when placingcall 310, in which case server 200 may include in information 125 callerID associated with second device as described above in reference toFIGS. 1 and 2, which caller ID may be provided via an instance of appthat is operating on second device 300. It should be noted as well thatcall forwarding using system 3000 may be performed after placement ofcall from first device 100 to second device 300 as described above inreference to FIGS. 1 and 2; forwarding number may, for instance, befirst telephone number of first device 100, and number of device atlocation 700 may be second telephone number which is substituted forfirst telephone number, such that second device 300 is placing call 310to a number provided to second device 300 using audio call 110 asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Persons skilled in theart, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware ofvarious other ways in which individual method steps performed by systems1000, 2000, and 3000 and/or components, devices, modules, or elements ofsystems 1000, 2000, and 3000 may be combined; all such combinations arecontemplated as within the scope of this disclosure. The number, size,shape, and/or configuration of the first device 100, server 200, and/orthe second device 300 are shown in FIG. 3 for illustrative purposes onlyand may be varied depending on the application as would be appreciatedby one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure. For example, the system 3000 may include one or more servers200. Information 125 and/or logo may be provided from server 200 tofirst device 100 using any data channel or channels as described abovein reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, including transmission over a network 600and/or text messaging service 500.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, server 200 may cause additionalfield 135 at first device 100 to show the name and/or phone number oforiginating calling device 300 that has called device 700 and/or anumber associated with device 700, and/or may cause first device 100 todisplay identifying information of device 700, including but not limitedto name and caller ID associated with device 700; in other words, anyinformation in server call data. Server 200 may cause display ofinformation 125 to include any server call data, including withoutlimitation the name and/or phone number of originating calling device300 that has called device 700 and/or a number associated with device700, and/or may cause first device 100 to display identifyinginformation of device 700, including but not limited to name and callerID associated with device 700. For instance, in an embodiment, server200 may send in audio call 130 and via PSTN call information describingoriginating device 300, to be displayed as information 125, and may sendvia a different channel such as network or text messaging services callinformation based on third telephone number, such as without limitationcall information describing device 700, to be displayed in additionalfield 135. As another non-limiting example, server 200 may send in audiocall 130 and via PSTN call information based on third telephone number,such as without limitation call information describing device 700, to bedisplayed as information 125, and may send via a different channel suchas network or text messaging services call information describingoriginating device 300, to be displayed in additional field 135. Thus,either originating call information or call information associated withthird telephone number and device 700 may be provided in eitherinformation 125 or additional field 135, depending on implementation; auser of first device 100 may enter an instruction specifying where eachcategory of information is to be displayed. Display of information 125and/or of additional field 135 may remain in place while incoming callfrom PSTN 400 is received and displayed on device 100 via display, whichmay be the native call receiving technology/display of device 100.Display may show incoming call information sent with inbound call fromPSTN 400 that was forwarded to first device 100. Incoming callinformation may include name/caller ID or other information associatedwith device 700, and/or it may display name/number or other informationabout device 300. First device 100 may display information 125,additional display 135, logo, and/or PSTN call information before callis answered informing recipient of the individual and/or device 300 whooriginally placed the call and the fact that the call was forwardthrough a secondary number of device 700.

FIG. 4 shows a system 4000 for forwarding a telephone number. System4000 of FIG. 4 is similar to system 3000 of FIG. 3. As such, a call 310may be placed via PSTN 400 by a second device 300, which may be anysecond device as described above in reference to FIG. 3, to a device ata location 700, which may be any device at location 700 as describedabove in reference to FIG. 3, including without limitation an office orhome device located at or identified by an office or home telephonenumber. Call 310 may be forwarded 710 via a first forwarding number to aserver 200 as described above in reference to FIG. 3; forwarding may beperformed as described above in reference to FIG. 3. Server 200 assigns,or has assigned, first forwarding number to a user account and/or firstdevice 100 and may further have assigned forwarding number to device atlocation 700; this may be performed, without limitation, as describedabove in reference to FIG. 3. Server 200 may also correspond firstforwarding number to an application, which may include withoutlimitation any app or other application as described above, running on afirst device 100, which may include without limitation any first device100 as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-2, including withoutlimitation a personal mobile phone of a subscriber to applicationrunning on server 200. Server 200 may further generate server call dataas described above in reference to FIG. 3, by retrieving data usingfirst forwarding number and/or receiving data as part of call 710. Basedon first forwarding number, an audio call 130 via the PSTN 400 connectssecond device 300 to first device 100. Upon receipt of audio call 130,first device 100 may request information 150, such as caller ID and/orcontact information, from the server 200 via a network such as theInternet 600; alternatively or additionally, upon receipt of the audiocall 130, the first device 100 may also, or instead, request information140, such as caller ID and/or contact information, from the server 200via a text messaging service as described above in reference to FIGS. 1and 2, including without limitation SMS 500. Alternatively oradditionally, data to be displayed in additional field 135 and/or logo,and/or data usable to retrieve such data and/or logo at first device 100as described above in reference to FIG. 3 may be transmitted via network600 and/or text messaging service 500 from server 200 to first device100; data to be displayed as information 125, and/or data usable byfirst device 100 to retrieve information 125, may be transmitted viaPSTN. Information 140, 150 may be displayed on the screen, or display,101 on the first device 100, for instance on additional field 135.Alternatively or additionally, server 200 may cause first device 100 todisplay a logo that informs a recipient that incoming call is beingforwarded rather than originally being placed to the first device 100 asdiscussed herein. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing theentirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various other ways inwhich individual method steps performed by systems 1000, 2000, 3000,and/or 4000 and/or components, devices, modules, or elements of systems1000, 2000, 3000, and/or 4000 may be combined; all such combinations arecontemplated as within the scope of this disclosure. The number, size,shape, and/or configuration of the first device 100, server 200, and/orthe second device 300 are shown in FIG. 4 for illustrative purposes onlyand may be varied depending on the application as would be appreciatedby one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of thisdisclosure. For example, the system 4000 may include one or more servers200.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic a system 3000 for an inbound phone call 710 tobe forwarded from a different telephone number. A second device 300,which may include any second device 300 as described above in referenceto FIGS. 3 and 4 having a screen and/or display 101 places a call 301 toa phone number of a device at a location 700, which may include anydevice at location 700 as described above; this may be implemented,without limitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Asdiscussed herein, a call 710 is forwarded to a first device 100; thismay be implemented, without limitation, as described above in referenceto FIGS. 3 and 4. System 3000 provides for screen 101 and/or display offirst device 100 to display data, which may include a first logo, andwhich may be is associated with a phone number at location 700; this maybe implemented, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 3 and 4. The system 3000 also provides for the screen 101 and/ordisplay of the first device 100 to display information 125, as describedabove, which may include information related to the second device 300;this may be implemented, without limitation, as described above inreference to FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, information 125 may include acontact name or caller ID associated with the second device 300; anyother example as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-4 is likewisecontemplated here. System 3000 also may provide for screen 101 and/or offirst device 100 to display an indicator 126 that further indicates thata call is being forwarded rather being initially placed to the firstdevice 100; this may be implemented, without limitation, as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Recipient may then be betterinformed whether to answer the call and/or how best to answer the call.The size, shape, location, and/or configuration of the callerinformation, 125, indicator 126, and/or first logo are shown in FIG. 5for illustrative purposes and may be varied depending on the applicationas would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic a system 3000 for an inbound phone call 710 tobe forwarded from a different telephone number. A second device 300,which may include any second device 300 as described above, having ascreen, or display, 301 places a call 301 to a number at a location 800that differs from the number and location 700 of FIG. 5; this may beimplemented, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 3 and 4. As discussed herein, a second forwarding numberassociated with the phone number at the location 800 may forward call810 to first device 100 via server 200; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. System3000 may provide for any display of any information as described abovein reference to FIGS. 3-4, including display of a second logo 145, whichmay, without limitation, be associated with a phone number at secondlocation 800; this may be implemented, without limitation, as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. System 3000 also provides for thescreen 101 of the first device 100 to display information 125 asdescribed above, which may include without limitation related to seconddevice 300 and/or location 800; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Forexample, information 125 may include a contact name or caller IDassociated with second device 300. System 3000 may also provide forscreen and/or display 101 of first device 100 to display an indicator126 that further indicates that the call is being forwarded rather beinginitially placed to the first device 100; this may be implemented,without limitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Arecipient may then be better informed whether to answer the call and/orhow best to answer the call. Size, shape, location, and/or configurationof the caller information, 125, indicator 126, and/or second logo 145are shown in FIG. 6 for illustrative purposes and may be varieddepending on the application as would be appreciated by one of ordinaryskill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method 5000 for providing apredetermined caller ID. The method 5000 includes receiving a firstaudio call from a first device via a PSTN, the first device having afirst caller ID corresponding to a first telephone number, at 5010; thismay be implemented, without limitation, as described above in referenceto FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, server 200, as described above inreference to FIGS. 1-6, may receive an audio call 110, as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 1-2, via PSTN 400 as described above inreference to FIGS. 1-2, from a first device 100 as described above inreference to FIGS. 1-2. Method 5000 includes receiving data from thefirst device via a channel different from the PSTN, at 5020; this may beimplemented, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. For example, server 200 may receive data 120 via SMS 500or via the Internet 600, for instance as described above in reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. Receiving data may include receiving a telephone numberassociated with the first destination device and the predeterminedcaller ID. Receiving data may include receiving a username and apassword.

Still referring to FIG. 9, method 5000 includes validating the firstaudio call with received data, at 5030; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Forexample, server 200 may use data 120 from first device 100 to validateaudio call 110 from the first device 100, for instance as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Method 5000 includes connecting thefirst device with the second device via a second audio call, at 5040;this may be implemented, without limitation, as described above inreference to FIGS. 1 and 2. For example, after server 200 validatesfirst audio call 110 from first device 100, the server may connect thefirst device 100 with second device 300 using a second audio call 210via PSTN 400, for instance as described above in reference to FIGS. 1and 2. Method 5000 includes providing the second device a predeterminedcaller ID that differs from the first caller ID, at 5050; this may beimplemented, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 1 and 2. For example, first device 100 may have a first caller IDand server 200 may causes a screen 301 of second device 300 to display apredetermined caller ID 225 that differs from first caller ID, forinstance as described above in reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method 6000 for forwardinga telephone call. Method 6000 includes receiving at a server a call to afirst forwarding number associated, on the server, with a first device,at 6010; this may be implemented, without limitation, as described abovein reference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, a server 200 may receive a call710 to a first forwarding number associated with a first device 100, forinstance as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Method 6000includes communicating from the server to the first device with a callerID code, at 6020; this may be implemented, without limitation, asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, server 200 maycommunicate a contact or caller ID related to the call, for instance asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Method 6000 includes creatingan audio call between the first device and a second device based on thecall from the first forwarding number, wherein the caller ID codedisplays a contact on a display of the first device, and wherein thecaller ID code displays a first logo on the display of the first device,the first logo corresponding to the first forwarding number, at 6030;this may be implemented, without limitation, as described above inreference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, server 200 may create an audio callbetween first device 100 and a second device 300, for instance asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Audio call may be made,without limitation, over PSTN 400. Caller ID code may cause a screenand/or or display 101 of first device 100 to display a callerinformation 125, for instance as described above in reference to FIGS.3-6. Caller ID code may cause screen and/or display, 101 of first device100 to display a first logo, for instance as described above inreference to FIGS. 3-6. First logo may correspond to a first location700 or, more specifically, a telephone number at the first location 700,for instance as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Method 6000may include displaying, or causing to be displayed, a notification ondisplay 101 of first device 101 prior to creating the audio call betweenthe first device 100 and second device 300; the notification may includecaller ID information regarding the second device. Telephone number atfirst location does not necessarily need to be stationary; for example,the telephone number may correspond to a mobile phone as would beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure.

Still referring to FIG. 10, method 6000 may include storing the firstlogo and the caller ID code on the server, at 6040; this may beimplemented, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 3-6. For example, first logo and the caller ID code may be storedin a database 250 on server 200, for instance as described above inreference to FIGS. 3-6. Method 6000 may include receiving at the servera call from a second forwarding number associated, on the server, withthe first device, at 6015; this may be implemented, without limitation,as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, server 200may receive a call 810 from a second forwarding number associated withfirst device 100, for instance as described above in reference to FIGS.3-6. Method 6000 includes communicating from server to first device witha caller ID code, at 6020; this may be implemented, without limitation,as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, server 200may communicate a contact or caller ID related to the call, for instanceas described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Method 6000 includescreating an audio call between first device and another device based oncall from second forwarding number; a second caller ID code displaying acontact on the display of the first device may be included wherein thesecond caller ID code may display a second logo on display of the firstdevice, the second logo corresponding to the second forwarding number,at 6035; this may be implemented, without limitation, as described abovein reference to FIGS. 3-6. For example, the server 200 may create anaudio call between first device 100 and another device, which may besecond device 300, for instance as described above in reference to FIGS.3-6. Caller ID code may cause screen and/or display, 101 of first device100 to display caller information 125, which may be a contact, forinstance as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Caller ID codemay cause screen and/or display 101 of first device 100 to display asecond logo 145, for instance as described above in reference to FIGS.3-6. Second logo 145 may correspond to a second location 800 or, morespecifically, a telephone number at second location 800, for instance asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 3-6. Telephone number at thesecond location does not necessarily need to be stationary. For example,telephone number may correspond to a mobile phone as would beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure.

FIG. 11A shows a schematic of a device 100 receiving a notification 170on a screen and/or display 101 of a device 100 such as withoutlimitation first device 100 as described above in reference to FIGS.1-6. Notification 170 may be received according to any method or methodsteps as described above. Notification 170 may be displayed asinformation 125 as described above in reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.Notification 170 may indicate an incoming forwarded call to be receivedshortly. The notification 170 may, as a non-limiting example, indicatean identification 171 of the caller, who may include the originatingcaller, and/or information regarding a device 700, 800 or telephonenumber to which forwarded call was initially directed. Theidentification 171 may include any information to identify a caller,number, device, or the like, including without limitation a contact nameand/or caller ID. The notification 170 may also include an indicator 175that the call to be received is being forwarded through an applicationon the device 100. The notification 170 may be displayed, as anon-limiting example, as a banner located on the upper portion of thescreen 101. The location, size, and/or configuration of the notification170 is shown in FIG. 11A for illustrative purposes and may be varieddepending on the application as would be appreciated by one of ordinaryskill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

FIG. 11B shows a schematic of a device 100 receiving an incoming forwardcall with the notification 170 remaining on a screen and/or display 101of a device 100 such as without limitation first device 100 as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 1-6. Device 100 and/or display 101 mayinclude an additional field 135; additional field 135 may display anyinformation as described above in reference to FIGS. 3-4, includingwithout limitation a logo, a company or entity name, or the like. Asdiscussed herein, logo may be assigned to a specific forwarding numberand thus, indicate the recipient the telephone number and/or device thecall is being forwarded from; for instance, and without limitation, logomay be associated with a business or other enterprise with whom therecipient may be affiliated, and at whom device 700 or 800 may belocated. The notification 170 and the logo may provide that therecipient is better informed on how to and/or whether to answer theincoming call. Location, size, and/or configuration of the logo is shownin FIG. 11B for illustrative purposes and may be varied depending on theapplication as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of this disclosure. As noted above in reference toFIGS. 3-4, any information that is or may be included in server calldata may be included in either of information 125 or additional field135; for instance, and as a further non-limiting example, calleridentification associated with an originating caller may be displayed inadditional field 135 while information concerning number or device fromwhich call is forwarded may be displayed as information 125.

Further referring to FIG. 11B, display elements may include at least anoption provided to a user of device, such as without limitation, atleast a option that the user may select by pressing a button orotherwise activating an event handler associated with a graphical userinterface. Options may include without limitation options to accept anincoming call, which may for example be associated with an “Accept”button or equivalent. Options may include options to send an incomingcall to voicemail, which may for instance be associated with a “Send toOffice VM” and/or “Send to VM” button or equivalent, and which may sendto any preconfigured voicemail account and/or any voicemail accountspecified by further user inputs. Options may include an option toforward a call such as an incoming call, which may for instance beassociated with a “Forward Call” button or equivalent, and which may beactivated during initial reception of call and/or at any time while acall is active; call forwarding may be accomplished by any callforwarding process, including without limitation any process, processstep, and/or combination thereof as described in this disclosure forcall forwarding. Options may include an option to create a conferencecall, which may be associated, for instance, with a “Create ConferenceCall” button, and which may be activated during initial reception ofcall and/or at any time while a call is active; a conference call may begenerated by merging any two or more calls, each of which may beinitiated, prior to, after, and/or as a result of selecting this option,in any manner for initiation of calls, including without limitation anyprocess, process step, and/or combination thereof as described in thisdisclosure for initiation, placement, connection, forwarding, and/orotherwise enabling phone calls. Options may include an option to join acall, which may be associated, without limitation, with a “Join Call”button; this option may be provided, for instance, to two or moretelephones and/or telephonically enabled devices such as, withoutlimitation, a device of a secondary recipient, such as a co-worker,supervisor, assistant, or the like of a person initially receiving acall, which secondary recipient may receive a notification via a mobileapplication or other technology described in this disclosure that theperson initially receiving the call is receiving, has joined, and/or hasperformed any other action as described in this disclosure with thecall. Thus, for instance, secondary recipient may join any call answeredby primary recipient by selecting a “Join Call” option, causinginitiation and/or conferencing of a second call with the call accordingto any process, process step, and/or combination thereof as described inthis disclosure; initial recipient may remain on the call and/or mayhave call terminated, and/or initial recipient may receive, on adisplay, a notification that secondary recipient has joined the call.Notifications of incoming calls, with any of the options describedabove, may be transmitted to two or more devices, including withoutlimitation primary and/or secondary recipients, or multiple potentialrecipients as described in further detail in this disclosure.

Turning now to FIG. 12, an exemplary embodiment of a system 1200 forproviding call forwarding over a publicly switched telephone network.Elements of system 1200 may be implemented in any manner suitable forimplementation of elements of systems 1000, 2000, 3000, and/or 4000;similarly, elements of systems 1000, 2000, 3000, and/or 4000 may beimplemented in any manner suitable for implementation of system 1200.System 1200 includes a server 1204. Server 1204 may include anycomputing device and/or combination of computing devices as described inthis disclosure, including without limitation any device suitable foruse as a server as described in this disclosure. Server 1204 may connectto a plurality of recipient devices 1208 a-n; each of plurality ofrecipient devices 1208 a-n may include, without limitation, anyrecipient device as described in this disclosure. Server may connect toat least a second device 1212 having a second telephone number; at leasta second device 1212 may be implemented, without limitation, in anymanner suitable for implementation of a second device as described abovein reference to FIG. 4.

Server 1204 may communicate with any of second device 1212 and/orplurality of recipient devices 1208 a-n by way of any suitable protocolfor electronic communication as described above in reference to FIGS.1-11B. For instance, and without limitation, server 1204 may communicatewith of second device 1212 and/or plurality of recipient devices 1208a-n via a PSTN 1216, which may be implemented as described above inreference to FIGS. 1-11B. As a further non-limiting example, server 1204may communicate with of second device 1212 and/or plurality of recipientdevices 1208 a-n via a text-messaging service and/or protocol, such aswithout limitation SMS 1220, which may be implemented as described abovein reference to FIGS. 1-11B. As an additional non-limiting example,server 1204 may communicate with of second device 1212 and/or pluralityof recipient devices 1208 a-n via a network connection such as theInternet 1224, which may be implemented as described above in referenceto FIGS. 1-11B.

In an embodiment, server 1204 is designed and configured to perform callforwarding between at least a recipient device having a display and arecipient telephone number and a second device having a second telephonenumber, for instance as described below in reference to FIG. 13.

Turning now to FIG. 13, an exemplary embodiment of a method 1300 ofproviding call forwarding over a publicly switched telephone network isillustrated. At step 1305, a server 1204 receives a call to a firstforwarding number, the first forwarding number associated, on theserver, with a plurality of recipient devices 1208 a-n, wherein the callis placed by a second device 1212 to a third telephone number andforwarded to the first forwarding number by a publicly switchedtelephone network (PSTN). This may be accomplished, without limitation,according to any methods and/or method steps as disclosed above inreference to FIGS. 1-11B. Call may be placed using any suitable methodand/or methods for placement of calls, including without limitation anymethod for call placement as described above in reference to FIGS.1-11B.

At step 1310, and still referring to FIG. 13, server 1204 selects atleast a recipient device of a plurality of recipient devices 1208 a-n toreceive the call. Plurality of devices may be associated with firstforwarding number in any data structure or using any component and/orelement as described above for associating a recipient device with afirst forwarding number. In an alternative embodiment, server 1204 maycreate a call via PSTN 1216 to all devices of plurality of devices 1208a-n and connect the call as a conference call any answering devices ofplurality of recipient devices 1216; this may be performed by placementof PSTN calls according to any method steps described above forplacement of calls via a PSTN 1216 for call forwarding. Selecting the atleast a recipient device may include filtering the plurality ofrecipient devices according to at least a contextual datum. A“contextual datum,” as used herein, is any element of data describing alocation and/or current status of a user of a recipient device and/or atime and/or date during which the call occurs. A contextual datum mayinclude, without limitation, a time, a date, a vacation status such aswhether a particular user is on vacation, a geographical location of auser, for instance as determined using GPS or similar location of arecipient device, or the like. Contextual data may be used to choosebetween two or more devices operated by one user; for instance, a userwhose cell phone conveys data indicating the user is at home may havehis or her home phone selected rather than the cell phone. As a furtherexample of a contextual datum being used in selection, a user who is onvacation according to some data provided to the server may get excludedfrom the call by having the user's recipient device not be selected;such a determination may also depend on additional factors, such assecond telephone number, such that a second number associated with animportant client and/or supervisor may cause selection of a user'srecipient device whether the user is on vacation or not. Embodiments ofthis method may enable a user, or employer thereof, to establish variousselection rules concerning which numbers are forwarded to the user, andunder which circumstances, including which numbers should be forwardedto the user outside of work hours, which numbers should be excluded forthe user because of interpersonal issues, or the like.

With continued reference to FIG. 13, As a further non-limiting example,one or more devices may by flagged in memory of the server 1204 as notreceiving calls after hours; alternatively or additionally, some devicesmay be designated as “on call” for a given time, date, day of the week,or the like, such that a particular user may receive such calls bydefault. “Work hours,” as used herein, may be any hours of operation ofa business, department, office, particular employee, or the like, whichmay vary depending on a day of the week, calendar day, or otherparameter, according to any suitable schedule. A particular user and/orrecipient device may be flagged or otherwise indicated in memory ofserver 1204 as a default and/or lead recipient for forwarding number,and/or forwarding number combined with a second number, a givencontextual datum, or the like. Default and/or lead recipient may beselected as the only one called or may ring a couple of times beforeadditional lines are added to the call. Thus, selecting at least arecipient device may include selecting at least a default recipientdevice.

Still referring to FIG. 1, selecting the at least a recipient device mayinclude communicating from server 1204 to plurality of recipient devices1208 a-n with a caller identification (ID) code; this may be performed,without limitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-11B. Thismay be combined with filtering and/or selection of recipient devicesaccording to contextual data and/or as default devices; thus, server1204 may communicate a caller identification code to a subset ofplurality of devices 1208 a-n as determined by any filtering or otheroperations as described above. In an embodiment, a default recipientdevice may receive communication from server 1204 to of a calleridentification (ID) code first; default recipient device and/or a userthereof may thereafter be able to refuse and/or fail to answer, causingserver 1204 to send message to a second default recipient device, to asubset of recipient devices selected according to any criteria and/orcontextual data as described above, and/or plurality of recipientdevices 1208 a-n minus default device. Default recipient may enter amessage specifying a subsequent recipient device, using any userinterface options described in this disclosure, and/or a message for asubsequent recipient to read and/or receive. Server 1204 maysubsequently receive from at least a responding device of the pluralityof recipient devices an indication accepting call; this may be performedaccording to any procedure and/or procedure step as described above foracceptance of a call by a user of a recipient device. For instance, andwithout limitation, communicating from server 1204 to plurality ofrecipient devices 1208 a-n may include providing, to the plurality ofrecipient devices, or to a subset determined by any filtering orselection operations as described above, a selectable display field;receiving the selection of the call further comprises receiving a userselection of the selectable field. Server 1204 may select the at least aresponding device as the at least a recipient device. As a non-limitingillustrative example, server 1204 may generate an alert that creates atoaster pop-up on each app user's cell phone; he app user can then pressthe popup to open the app or go directly to the app to open it. Onceopened, the app may display key information and provide a simplequestion to the app user. As a non-limiting example, informationdisplayed to a user may include caller ID and/or name of an originatingcaller, a company name and/or phone number to which call was originallysent, or the like. An app user may then press YES or NO, or equivalentinput options, signaling server 1204 to send the call to their cellphone over the PSTN 1216 as further described below. Communication ofcodes may be performed via SMS 1220 or other text messaging protocolsand/or systems, and/or via a network such as the Internet 1224, forinstance as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-11B.

Still referring to FIG. 13, and as noted above, selecting at least arecipient device may include communicating from the server to a defaultrecipient device with a caller identification (ID) code, which may beimplemented as described above, receiving, from at least a defaultrecipient device, a user input, and selecting the at least a recipientdevice based on the user input. User input may include a selection ofthe at least a recipient device. User input may include a refusal toanswer the call. Alternatively or additionally, default user and/ordevice may fail to respond within a threshold period of time, which maytrigger communication and/or call to be transmitted and/or connected toone or more devices of plurality of recipient devices 1208 a-n. Thus,communication may be staggered: at least a default device may get afirst opportunity to respond to call, and either failing to answer,selecting another device, and/or refusing call may cause call to be sentto one other or many other devices. In an embodiment, caller ID code maydisplay a contact on a display of the recipient device; the caller IDcode may display a first logo on the display of the recipient device,the first logo corresponding to the first forwarding number. This may beimplemented as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-11B. Additionalinformation that may be displayed may include, without limitation, whoelse is on the call, whether multiple people answered, whether somebodyelse has conferenced in, or the like, who was initially selected,whether a “default,” preferred, or other person was initially tried,failed to answer, refused, or the like, and/or messages entered by otherusers, including without limitation message entered by a defaultrecipient.

In operation, inbound calls and caller ID information may be forwardedand/or transmitted to one or multiple APP Users at the same time. Whenforwarded to multiple recipients, a first person/App User/Customer thatanswers the call may be connected with the inbound caller. In anembodiment, if an inbound call is directed to multiple individuals' cellphones, the person who did NOT answer the call (meaning someone else towhom the call was also forwarded answered first and connected with thecaller) may have the ability to go to the APP and conference into theexisting phone call. Specifically, other individuals who did notkeypress “yes” first may then have the ability go back to the App andkeypress “join”; Once “join” is key pressed, such other users' phonesand/or other recipient devices may receive a call from server 1204; whenanswered, an individual who key pressed “join” may be conferenced intoan existing call.

In an embodiment, and still referring to FIG. 13, when a call isforwarded to multiple individuals, contact information of theoriginating caller and the number which was originally dialed may firstbe displayed on the APP or via a text message, for instance as describedabove. A PSTN phone call may not be forwarded until an App Userkeypresses “yes” meaning they want to receive the call; the App User mayhave the ability to say “yes” or “no” via the APP or via text message. Afirst person to keypress “yes” may then have the voice portion callforwarded to their cell phone; this may be implemented as describedabove in reference to FIGS. 1-11B. In an embodiment, a first app user topress “YES” may have the call forwarded via the PSTN to their cellphone; in other words, a first device responding to communication may beselected as described above. All other app users in that distributionlist may receive a notice revealing the user who took the call.

At step 1315, and still referring to FIG. 13, server 1204 creates anaudio call between the at least a recipient device and the second device1212 based on the call from the first forwarding number; the call may beplaced via PSTN 1216. This may be implemented, without limitation, asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1-11B.

Referring now to FIG. 14, an exemplary embodiment of a method 1400 ofoutbound calling over a public switched telephone network isillustrated. At step 1405, a server, which may include any server asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1-13, receives a data packet froman initiating device indicating a user command to initiate a telephonecall; this may be implemented, without limitation as described above inreference to FIGS. 1-13. A user of initiating device may initiate callas described above, including without limitation by activating an app oninitiating device; app may display a pop up, activation of whichtransmits the data packet. Data packet may, for instance, notify theserver that initiating device is going to make a call within some shortperiod of time, such as without limitation 5 seconds.

At step 1410, and still referring to FIG. 15, server may receive aninitial call to a first number, the first number associated, on theserver, with the initiating device, wherein the initial call is placedby the initiating device by a publicly switched telephone network(PSTN); this may be implemented, without limitation, as described abovein reference to FIGS. 1-13. For instance, and without limitation, an appoperating on initiating device may trigger a native dialer on theinitiating device and call server via a predetermined phone numberassigned to that initiating device, for instance over the PSTN. At step1415 transmitting, by the server, a verbal prompt to the initiatingdevice over the initial call, wherein the verbal prompt requests anidentification of a destination device; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-13. As anon-limiting illustrative example, server may answer with the person'sfirst name, for instance saying, “Hello, Bill. Whom would you like tocall? At step 1420, server may receive, over the initial call, a verbalidentification of the destination device; this may be implemented,without limitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-13. Forinstance, an app user may respond with a first and last name of a userof a recipient device, such as “Bill Johnson,” which server may retrievefrom contacts associated with user of initiating device stored on serverand/or on initiating device. Where retrieved contact informationincludes more than one number and/or recipient device associated with anidentified user, server may transmit a follow-up question over theinitial call and receive further information from the initiating devicevia the call and/or data packets sent via text messaging and/or networkcommunication. For instance, server may respond with the following,“Which number, home, cell or office?” to which a user may verballyrespond with any of the choices. User selection may be of a person whosename and number is already in the contacts within the App and/or on theserver. User may alternatively or additionally verbally enter atelephone number associated with a recipient device. Each verbal promptby server may be performed using any suitable text-to-speech protocoland/or process; each verbal response from any user may be converted totext for comparison to and/or retrieval of data on server using anysuitable speech-to-text protocol and/or process. Where a user ofinitiating device has more than one number associated with it, servermay select a default number to be used as caller ID, for instance whereuser has specified such a default number. Server may alternatively oradditionally transmit an audio request to user via initiating device tospecify a number to be used as caller ID, which user may specify using averbal response and/or according to any other process for suchspecification as provided in this disclosure. As a non-limitingillustration, server may respond with the following, “Are you callingfrom your office, direct line, or home?” and user may verbally respondwith any of the choices. Server may finish the call with a confirmationmessage, such as without limitation the following: “Calling BillJohnson's (WHICHEVER WAS CHOSEN) phone, with the caller ID of yourWHICHEVER WAS CHOSEN).”

At step 1425, and still referring to FIG. 14, server may determine asecond number of the destination device, for instance based on the userverbal response and/or responses; this may be performed, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-13. At step 1430server creates an audio call between the originating device and thedestination device based on the call from the originating device; thismay be performed, without limitation, as described above in reference toFIGS. 1-13. Placement of call may be performed, without limitation,using any methods and/or method steps described above for provision ofcaller identification.

Referring now to FIG. 15, an exemplary embodiment of a method 1500 ofcall placement over a publicly switched telephone network isillustrated. At step 1505, a server 200 receives a first call from afirst device to a first telephone number associated with the firstdevice, wherein the call is received over a publicly switched telephonenetwork; this may be implemented, without limitation, as described abovein reference to FIGS. 1-14, for instance using a first telephone numberassociated with the first device that is stored on server 200 as setforth in further detail above.

At step 1510, server 200 identifies first device as a function of firsttelephone number; this may be performed, without limitation, asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1-14. As a non-limiting example,identifying may include receiving, in first call, caller identificationdata associated with first device; caller identification data may bereceived in any manner described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15.Server 200 may retrieve, from memory of the server 200, useridentification data associated with the first telephone number, whichmay be in any form described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15. Server200 may verify caller identification data as a function of useridentification data; for instance, and without limitation, calleridentification data may be compared to user identification data. If datadoes not match, server 200 may terminate process as inauthentic, forinstance and without limitation to screen out spoofed calls.

At step 1515, and still referring to FIG. 15, server 200 transmits callconfirmation data to the first device. “Call confirmation data,” as usedherein, is data prompting a user of first device to confirm that theuser is attempting to place a call, such as without limitation, anymessage indication a call attempt, a message asking the user whether theuser intended to place a call, or the like. In an embodiment,transmitting call confirmation data to first device may transmitting adata packet over a network connection to the first device. Data packetmay cause first device to display call confirmation data to a user offirst device, for instance via an application operating on first deviceas described above in reference to FIGS. 1-14. Data packet may provideuser a button or other data entry and/or command entry field permittinguser to confirm and/or deny that user intends to place a call. In anembodiment, transmitting call confirmation data to first device mayinclude placing a third call over PSTN to the first device; the thirdcall may provide call confirmation data to a user of the first device.Where third call is placed, server 200 and/or first device may terminatefirst call. Call confirmation data may be placed via third call usingaudio data, such as a voice prompt generated by text to speechtechnology or the like.

At step 1520, and with continued reference to FIG. 15, server 200receives, from the first device, a call initiation command as a functionof the call confirmation data; this may be performed without limitationin any manner for initiation of calls as described above in reference toFIGS. 1-14. For instance, and without limitation, receiving the callinitiation command may include receiving a data packet from the firstdevice over a network, which may either confirm or deny that user hasplaced the call. Data packet may identify a user associated with asecond device, an identifier of the second device, a telephone number ofthe second device, or the like; identification of the user of the seconddevice may be used by server 200 to retrieve a telephone number forsecond call from contacts of user of first device or the like, forinstance and without limitation as described above in reference to FIGS.1-15. As a further non-limiting example, receiving call initiationcommand may include receiving a second phone number associated with thedevice from a native dialer on the first device; for instance, user maydial a phone number of second device. As a further non-limiting example,server 200 may receive call initiation command by receiving, over PSTN,a verbal identification of a second device; verbal identification mayinclude any data suitable for identification of second device asdescribed above, and may be analyzed using, without limitation,speech-to-text technology, which may be used to retrieve and/or identifya telephone number of second device. Verbal identification furthercomprises an identification of a user associated with a second device,such as a name, a user identifier and/or contact record identifier, fora record in contacts associated with user of first device, of the userassociated with the second device.

At step 1525, server 200 initiates a second call over the publiclyswitched telephone network to a second device, as a function of the callinitiation command; this may be performed, without limitation, asdescribed above in reference to FIGS. 1-14. Placement of call may beperformed, without limitation, using any methods and/or method stepsdescribed above for provision of caller identification.

Referring now to FIG. 16, an exemplary embodiment of a method 1600 ofcall placement over a publicly switched telephone network isillustrated. At step 16 05, receiving, at a server 200, from anapplication operating on a first device, a call initiation command toinitiate a telephone call; this may be implemented, without limitation,as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15. For instance, and withoutlimitation, receiving call initiation may include receiving an initialcall from the first device over a publicly switched telephone network,where initial call may be received and/or associated with first deviceaccording to any process described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15. Asa further non-limiting example, server 200 may receive a datacommunication, defined for these purposes as a data packet or textmessage as described above, from first device; the data communicationmay confirm that a user of the first device commanded the first deviceto generate the call initiation command. For instance, in an embodiment,user may open and/or access an application on first device and keypressa button or other command entry labeled “Make Call” or the like. A callmay be placed via PSTN using first device's native dialer to server 200.Concurrently, first device and/or an application thereon as describedabove may transmit a data packet and/or text to server 200 that confirmsuser is making a call via PSTN. Server 200 may use user's calleridentification data, for instance in combination with data packet and/ortext message to authorize and authenticate call.

Alternatively or additionally, receiving the call initiation command mayinclude receiving, from the application, a code request. A “coderequest,” as defined in this disclosure, is a request for a passcode. A“passcode,” as used in this disclosure, is an authorization datum byserver 200 and/or a system and/or operator thereof, to place a call;passcode may be a one-time authorization datum, which once used is nolonger valid as authorization. Server 200 may transmit a passcode to thefirst device. Server may cause application to display the passcode tothe user. For instance, and without limitation, user may enter a commandrequesting password via an application operating on first device, forinstance by entering a keypress of a button or other command entryfield, which may be labeled “Call Password” or the like. First deviceand/or application may send server 200 a data communication requestingpasscode. Passcodes may include without limitation a 2-10-digit code.Server 200 may receive an initial call from first device over PSTN.Server may prompt a user of first device to provide passcode in initialcall and may proceed to place a call only if passcode is valid.

At step 1610, and still referring to FIG. 16, server 200 determines adestination device of telephone call; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15. For instance,and without limitation, determine a destination device of telephone callmay include receiving an initial call over PSTN, optionally includingreceipt and/or request for a passcode as described above, and receiving,of the PSTN, a verbal identification of the second device. In anon-limiting example, server 200 may provide an audio prompt such aswithout limitation “Hi Susan, who would you like to call?” User may thensay a name of a person to be called, which may correspond with names andnumbers in a contacts database as described above in reference to FIGS.1-15 or may verbally enter a telephone number. Alternatively oradditionally, user may dial telephone number. In an embodiment, server200 may respond that it is calling a second device and/or user there,such as without limitation via another audio prompt such as “Calling,Pablo Perez via your Office phone number.” Determining a destinationdevice of the telephone call may include receiving, from first device, atelephone number of the destination device. Server 200 may be dialed viaPSTN automatically, for instance by a process automatically initiatedfrom an application operating on first device. SCI server 200 may prompta user of first device for passcode as described above; application mayenable user to initiate automatic transmission of passcode, for instanceby selecting an “Enter Password” button or the like, or key passcode inmanually.

At step 1615, and further referring to FIG. 16, server 200 generatestelephone call to destination device; this may be implemented, withoutlimitation, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15. Placement ofcall may be performed, without limitation, using any methods and/ormethod steps described above for provision of caller identification.

It is to be noted that any one or more of the aspects and embodimentsdescribed herein may be conveniently implemented using one or moremachines (e.g., one or more computing devices that are utilized as auser computing device for an electronic document, one or more serverdevices, such as a document server, etc.) programmed according to theteachings of the present specification, as will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the computer art. Appropriate software coding canreadily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of thepresent disclosure, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe software art. Aspects and implementations discussed above employingsoftware and/or software modules may also include appropriate hardwarefor assisting in the implementation of the machine executableinstructions of the software and/or software module.

Such software may be a computer program product that employs amachine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable storage medium maybe any medium that is capable of storing and/or encoding a sequence ofinstructions for execution by a machine (e.g., a computing device) andthat causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/orembodiments described herein. Examples of a machine-readable storagemedium include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disc(e.g., CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, etc.), a magneto-optical disk, a read-onlymemory “ROM” device, a random access memory “RAM” device, a magneticcard, an optical card, a solid-state memory device, an EPROM, an EEPROM,and any combinations thereof. A machine-readable medium, as used herein,is intended to include a single medium as well as a collection ofphysically separate media, such as, for example, a collection of compactdiscs or one or more hard disk drives in combination with a computermemory. As used herein, a machine-readable storage medium does notinclude transitory forms of signal transmission.

Such software may also include information (e.g., data) carried as adata signal on a data carrier, such as a carrier wave. For example,machine-executable information may be included as a data-carrying signalembodied in a data carrier in which the signal encodes a sequence ofinstruction, or portion thereof, for execution by a machine (e.g., acomputing device) and any related information (e.g., data structures anddata) that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologiesand/or embodiments described herein.

Examples of a computing device include, but are not limited to, anelectronic book reading device, a computer workstation, a terminalcomputer, a server computer, a handheld device (e.g., a tablet computer,a smartphone, etc.), a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, any machine capable of executing a sequence ofinstructions that specify an action to be taken by that machine, and anycombinations thereof. In one example, a computing device may includeand/or be included in a kiosk.

FIG. 17 shows a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of acomputing device in the exemplary form of a computer system 1700 withinwhich a set of instructions for causing a control system to perform anyone or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the presentdisclosure may be executed. It is also contemplated that multiplecomputing devices may be utilized to implement a specially configuredset of instructions for causing one or more of the devices to performany one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the presentdisclosure. Computer system 1700 includes a processor 1704 and a memory1708 that communicate with each other, and with other components, via abus 1712. Bus 1712 may include any of several types of bus structuresincluding, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, aperipheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any ofa variety of bus architectures.

Processor 1704 may include any suitable processor, such as withoutlimitation a processor incorporating logical circuitry for performingarithmetic and logical operations, such as an arithmetic and logic unit(ALU), which may be regulated with a state machine and directed byoperational inputs from memory and/or sensors; processor 1704 may beorganized according to Von Neumann and/or Harvard architecture as anon-limiting example. Processor 1704 may include, incorporate, and/or beincorporated in, without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor,digital signal processor (DSP), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), Graphical Processing Unit(GPU), general purpose GPU, Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), analog ormixed signal processor, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a floating pointunit (FPU), and/or system on a chip (SoC)

Memory 1708 may include various components (e.g., machine-readablemedia) including, but not limited to, a random-access memory component,a read only component, and any combinations thereof. In one example, abasic input/output system 1716 (BIOS), including basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system1700, such as during start-up, may be stored in memory 1708. Memory 1708may also include (e.g., stored on one or more machine-readable media)instructions (e.g., software) 1720 embodying any one or more of theaspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. In anotherexample, memory 1708 may further include any number of program modulesincluding, but not limited to, an operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, program data, and anycombinations thereof.

Computer system 1700 may also include a storage device 1724. Examples ofa storage device (e.g., storage device 1724) include, but are notlimited to, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical discdrive in combination with an optical medium, a solid-state memorydevice, and any combinations thereof. Storage device 1724 may beconnected to bus 1712 by an appropriate interface (not shown). Exampleinterfaces include, but are not limited to, SCSI, advanced technologyattachment (ATA), serial ATA, universal serial bus (USB), IEEE 1394(FIREWIRE), and any combinations thereof. In one example, storage device1724 (or one or more components thereof) may be removably interfacedwith computer system 1700 (e.g., via an external port connector (notshown)). Particularly, storage device 1724 and an associatedmachine-readable medium 1728 may provide nonvolatile and/or volatilestorage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, programmodules, and/or other data for computer system 1700. In one example,software 1720 may reside, completely or partially, withinmachine-readable medium 1728. In another example, software 1720 mayreside, completely or partially, within processor 1704.

Computer system 1700 may also include an input device 1732. In oneexample, a user of computer system 1700 may enter commands and/or otherinformation into computer system 1700 via input device 1732. Examples ofan input device 1732 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numericinput device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device, a joystick, agamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice responsesystem, etc.), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a touchpad, anoptical scanner, a video capture device (e.g., a still camera, a videocamera), a touchscreen, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1732may be interfaced to bus 1712 via any of a variety of interfaces (notshown) including, but not limited to, a serial interface, a parallelinterface, a game port, a USB interface, a FIREWIRE interface, a directinterface to bus 1712, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1732may include a touch screen interface that may be a part of or separatefrom display 1736, discussed further below. Input device 1732 may beutilized as a user selection device for selecting one or more graphicalrepresentations in a graphical interface as described above.

A user may also input commands and/or other information to computersystem 1700 via storage device 1724 (e.g., a removable disk drive, aflash drive, etc.) and/or network interface device 1740. A networkinterface device, such as network interface device 1740, may be utilizedfor connecting computer system 1700 to one or more of a variety ofnetworks, such as network 1744, and one or more remote devices 1748connected thereto. Examples of a network interface device include, butare not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile networkinterface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof.Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide areanetwork (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local areanetwork (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campusor other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a datanetwork associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobilecommunications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connectionbetween two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network,such as network 1744, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode ofcommunication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information(e.g., data, software 1720, etc.) may be communicated to and/or fromcomputer system 1700 via network interface device 1740.

Computer system 1700 may further include a video display adapter 1752for communicating a displayable image to a display device, such asdisplay device 1736. Examples of a display device include, but are notlimited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), aplasma display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, and anycombinations thereof. Display adapter 1752 and display device 1736 maybe utilized in combination with processor 1704 to provide graphicalrepresentations of aspects of the present disclosure. In addition to adisplay device, computer system 1700 may include one or more otherperipheral output devices including, but not limited to, an audiospeaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof. Such peripheral outputdevices may be connected to bus 1712 via a peripheral interface 1756.Examples of a peripheral interface include, but are not limited to, aserial port, a USB connection, a FIREWIRE connection, a parallelconnection, and any combinations thereof.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrativeembodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.Features of each of the various embodiments described above may becombined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate inorder to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associatednew embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number ofseparate embodiments, what has been described herein is merelyillustrative of the application of the principles of the presentinvention. Additionally, although particular methods herein may beillustrated and/or described as being performed in a specific order, theordering is highly variable within ordinary skill to achieve methods,systems, and software according to the present disclosure. Accordingly,this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not tootherwise limit the scope of this invention.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes, omissions, and additions may be made to that whichis specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for call placement over a publiclyswitched telephone network, the system comprising a first device havinga first telephone number and first caller identification, wherein thefirst device is designed and configured to: place a first call to aserver, wherein: the first call is placed to a second telephone numberassociated with the first device, and wherein the first call comprisesan audio call; and the first call is transmitted over a publiclyswitched telephone network to the server; transmit data to the servervia a different channel than the first call, wherein the data directsthe server to associate predetermined caller identification with asecond call to a second device, wherein the predetermined calleridentification differs from the first caller identification; andinitiate the second call.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dataincludes a third telephone number of the second device and thepredetermined caller identification.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe first device is configured to initiate the second call by: receivingcall confirmation data from the server; and initiating the second callover the publicly switched telephone network to the second device as afunction of the call confirmation data.
 4. The system of claim 3,wherein receiving the call confirmation data from the server furthercomprises receiving a data packet over a network connection from theserver, wherein the data packet causes the first device to display thecall confirmation data to a user of the first device, and wherein thedisplayed call confirmation data comprises a prompt for the user toconfirm or deny that user intends to place the second call.
 5. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein receiving the call confirmation data from theserver further comprises receiving a third call over the publiclyswitched telephone network from the server, wherein the third callprovides the call confirmation data to a user of the first device usingaudio data generated by text-to-speech technology.
 6. The system ofclaim 5 wherein the first device is further configured to terminate thefirst call.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein initiating the second callfurther comprises transmitting a data packet from the first device overa network.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the data packet identifiesa user associated with the second device.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the first device is further configured to initiate the secondcall by transmitting a third phone number associated with the seconddevice using a native dialer on the first device.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first device is further configured to initiate thesecond call by transmitting, over the publicly switched telephonenetwork, a verbal identification of the second device.
 11. A method ofcall placement over a publicly switched telephone network, the methodcomprising: placing, by a first device having a first telephone numberand first caller identification a first call to a server, wherein: thefirst call is placed to a second telephone number associated with thefirst device, and wherein the first call comprises an audio call; andthe first call is transmitted over a publicly switched telephone networkto the server; transmitting, by the first device, data to the server viaa different channel than the first call, wherein the data directs theserver to associate predetermined caller identification with a secondcall to a second device, wherein the predetermined caller identificationdiffers from the first caller identification; and initiating, by thefirst device, the second call.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thedata includes a third telephone number of the second device and thepredetermined caller identification.
 13. The method of claim 11, whereininitiating the second call further comprises: receiving callconfirmation data from the server; and initiating the second call overthe publicly switched telephone network to the second device as afunction of the call confirmation data.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein receiving the call confirmation data from the server furthercomprises receiving a data packet over a network connection from theserver, wherein the data packet causes the first device to display thecall confirmation data to a user of the first device, and wherein thedisplayed call confirmation data comprises a prompt for the user toconfirm or deny that user intends to place the second call.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein receiving the call confirmation data fromthe server further comprises receiving a third call over the publiclyswitched telephone network from the server, wherein the third callprovides the call confirmation data to a user of the first device usingaudio data generated by text-to-speech technology.
 16. The method ofclaim 15 further comprising terminating the first call.
 17. The methodof claim 11, wherein initiating the second call further comprisestransmitting a data packet from the first device over a network.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the data packet identifies a user associatedwith the second device.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein initiatingthe second call further comprises transmitting a third phone numberassociated with the second device using a native dialer on the firstdevice.
 20. The method of claim 11, wherein initiating the second callfurther comprises transmitting, over the publicly switched telephonenetwork, a verbal identification of the second device.